Nostalgia and the desire to physically possess music: why audio tapes are popular again

With the massive proliferation of digital media in the early 2000s, it seemed that the era of compact cassettes was irrevocably gone. But, contrary to the opinion of skeptics, in recent years, the popularity of audio cassettes and the demand for them has only grown. In the UK alone, 65,000 cassettes were sold in the first six months of 2020 - more than double the same period in 2019 and more than all of 2018. The last time the British noted such a demand for these storage media was back in 2004. American companies have also recorded annual growth in sales of audio cassettes in the United States for several years.

Why cassettes are back in vogue in the streaming era

This is facilitated by several reasons at once. Moreover, the initiative comes both from the listeners themselves and from musicians and media moguls.

1980s style is popular in culture

The massive boom for this era, which began in the early 2010s and has only intensified over time, has penetrated all areas of the media business. Tape cassettes and their playback devices, especially the original Sony Walkman portable player, were once prominent symbols of the early 1980s in Europe and the United States.

A key moment that kicked off the revival of the cassette industry was the release of Guardians of the Galaxy in the summer of 2014. The Star-Lord dance that went viral in the opening scene was accompanied by music from the same Sony Walkman.

The soundtrack compilation was officially released in November 2014 to the delight of fans in an authentic compact cassette format. In the UK, music from Guardians of the Galaxy and the 2017 sequel continues to be the best-selling audio cassette ever released.

Then these sound carriers became almost an integral part of most films and TV series filmed in the 21st century, which are set in the American 1980s. Perhaps the most famous example is Netflix's Stranger Things.

But in many stories about our time, cassettes are an important component of the narrative. For example, in the drama series of the same Netflix about the current problems of American teenagers "13 Reasons Why", Hannah Baker recorded her suicide messages on compact cassettes

Tape cassettes: a snapshot from the Netflix series "13 Reasons Why"

The younger generation wants to physically have the music they love

This reason equally leads to the growth of not only audio cassettes, but also vinyl records.

Many people reasonably believe that in our time it is no longer advisable to keep a music collection on separate physical media. This is impractical and takes up a lot of space. There are digital drives with millions of songs. Streaming services have become ubiquitous and have a direct impact on the development of the entire global music industry.

In a sense, the unlimited consumption of music leads to its depreciation.

This is especially felt by the generation of buzzers, which from an early age listens to tracks from social networks and flash drives. Unsurprisingly, many young people want a more meaningful experience with music - and this is where the physical possession of the albums of their favorite artists helps. And here the decisive factors for choosing audio cassettes instead of vinyl records, as at the peak of their popularity in the 1980s, were again compactness and cheapness.

The older generation is nostalgic

Along with young people who are just discovering compact-cassettes, their parents feel nostalgia for their youth. Many with trepidation take out the surviving players and tape recorders with cassette collections from storerooms and garages. At the same time, such artists as Charles Aznavour, Brian Adams and Prince, who are popular among an older audience, appear in the same British sales charts for new cassettes.

The artists themselves create a nostalgic mood among their fans, conducting various promotions and contests with compact cassettes as prizes. For example, in 2018 at the "Hands Up!" it was possible to purchase a collection of the group's hits in such a format, which frontman Sergei Zhukov announced on social networks. In such cases, the cassette becomes more a souvenir for fans than a practical thing.

Underground artists and indie labels want to stand out

For many little-known artists, releasing their recordings exclusively on tape in limited editions has become a special cause of pride. In recent years, a huge number of local labels have appeared, releasing music only on audio cassettes and hardly investing in marketing.

Around these indie publishers, thematic communities have formed (for example) with collections and reviews of new products in the cassette industry. In the United States, some record stores distribute cassettes by independent artists. The principle of word of mouth on social networks also works.

Tape recordings have a specific sound

This is perhaps the least compelling reason for the rise in popularity of audio cassettes. Nevertheless, some music lovers admit that they are attracted by the special analog sound. It should be noted that the quality of recording, even on the flagship models of household cassette devices, was significantly inferior in all characteristics to digital media and vinyl records.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of cassettes

In the 1980s, at the peak of the popularity of compact cassettes, their main advantages compared to vinyl records and reels were cheapness, small size and convenience - both of the media itself and of reproducing and recording devices. In addition, the stake was placed on the owners of automotive electronics, who finally got the opportunity to listen in their cars not only to the radio, but also to their favorite recordings.

Audio cassettes with your favorite recordings

For many music lovers, the decisive factor in choosing audio cassettes was their wide customization. Apparently, therefore, rewrite-protected compact-cassettes did not gain popularity in their time. The songs sounded on the air of radio stations were transferred to the tapes, the musical collections of friends and acquaintances were partially or completely copied. To this day, many people use the dubbing capabilities to create unique copyrighted collections of songs and voice notes on cassettes.

Giving a loved one a cassette with your favorite songs and a touching message on the body is not at all the same as sending a link to a playlist on a streaming platform.

If for one audience dubbing was an undoubted advantage of cassettes, then for another, in comparison with the security of content on vinyl records, it was a significant drawback. But the main reason for the fall in popularity of cassettes at one time was, of course, the lowest sound quality among media. By the time magnetic tape technology reached a bearable level, digital formats were already ubiquitous.

Where to buy cassettes and what you need to know before buying them

Most new cassettes still use stocks of tapes from the early 2000s. Since 2018, only one company in the world has been producing audio cassettes and a new tape under its own brand - RecordingTheMasters.

In Russia, at the present time, no record company officially publishes albums of artists in the format of compact cassettes. For music lovers, the only platforms to buy new releases in this format are eBay, Amazon, Yahoo, Discogs and others - with mail delivery from abroad.

Fortunately, buying from the secondary market is much easier. A huge number of official and unofficial releases of previous years, as well as blank cassettes sealed in original packaging, are regularly put up for sale at Avito, Yulia and Sack. On the Runet there are many forums and communities on social networks (for example,) where participants buy and sell CD-cassettes.

Experts advise you to first check with the seller in what conditions the audio carriers were stored before buying from hand. For example, a prolonged stay in an unheated garage will lead to shedding of the film and squeaking of the cassette body. Excessively hot conditions can deform plastic parts.

Where to find cassette equipment

Cassette receivers disappeared from the catalogs of modern stereo systems back in the early 2000s. And despite the growing popularity of this audio format in recent years, there are almost no new cassette decks on the market. Perhaps the last relatively large brand that produces cassette receivers today is the Japanese company TEAS.

Sometimes on sale on radio markets or, for example, on AliExpress, you can find new radios and portable players from little-known Chinese manufacturers. But there can be no question of any guarantee of good sound quality.

There are also more experimental cassette devices. For example, Hong Kong-based design studio NINM Lab sells a cassette player with Bluetooth 5.0 wireless transmission.

But the range of used reproducing and recording devices for audio cassettes remains wide. On the same "Avito", "Yulia" and "Sack", as well as in thematic communities, people willingly sell both various models of past years, and spare parts for them.